“The first thing a person needs to do is take a close look at how they got into debt in the first place,” advised Carolyn McClanahan, M.D., CFP, who began her career as a physician and is now founder of a financial planning group called Life Planning Partners LLC, based in Jacksonville, Fla. “They should identify what triggered the situation or any bad habits that might have led to their debt, so that they don’t repeat those things going forward. Then, they need to make an actionable plan to figure out how to get out of debt.”

This should really only be explored a last resort for debt relief before you file for bankruptcy. If you’ve tried everything else and haven’t had any success, then you can consider a debt settlement plan where you settle your debts for less than the full amount owed. This can cause significant damage to your credit score and results may vary, but it may be your best option if your situation is truly critical.

It’s also worth noting that working with debt counselors doesn’t negatively impact your ability to qualify for new financing. Even if you enroll in a debt management program, you can still get approved for loans, such as a mortgage or an auto loan. You can’t open new credit accounts during enrollment. However, you can get approved for major financing to purchase a home or car or to fund a higher education. This way, you don’t have to put your life on hold while you pay off your credit card debt.

Hi, I’m 28 and made a lot of bad decisions with credit cards when I was younger. I’ve been able to make at least the minimum payment on time until the 4 months or so, I’ve been late on a few bills trying to adjust to a new job and pay periods. I still have about $16k in debt, and am starting to really struggle to get by each month. Last year my score was around a 740, and I’d like to salvage as much as possible, but the payments are just getting too high now that they have raises my interest rates. What is my best option to resolve this without destroying my credit score?

I was in touch with National debt relief from past 2 years and trying to decide if I want to go this path or not by talking to few agents . Recently I had bad experience with few agents that I talked with rude attitude thnking that I am not a serious client or wasting the time by not enrolled into their programs. I think as a customer you have a right of thinking and asking or talking to few agents or looking for other options also . One of the agent Richi S. was very rude and offensive in talking to me and said I am totally a waste of time and not serious before even getting into the details of my current situation. Yes of course I had submitted the request few times thinking of enroll but did not take the decision . They cannot force or assume that every one who ask the adivse does not necessary have to enroll l or cannot submit the request again because they are not serious!. Very bad and rude customer skills. please train them to be kind and professional towards clients with their talking.
Our experience with Clearpoint Credit Counseling is remarkable as they have helped us understand how to remove that overwhelming and disastrous financial burden from our lives. Our Clearpoint counselor is always welcoming, empathetic, professional and experienced and he has allowed us to live our lives as we had dreamed—free from the nightmare of the intimidating phone calls, the threatening letters and the guilt we felt.
Visitors to Credit.com are also able to register for a free Credit.com account, which gives them access to a tool called The Credit Report Card. This tool provides users with two free credit scores and a breakdown of the information in their Experian credit report, updated twice monthly. Again, this tool is entirely free, and we mention that frequently in our articles, because we think that it’s a good thing for users to have access to data like this. Separate from its educational value, there is also a business angle to the Credit Report Card. Registered users can be matched with products and services for which they are most likely to qualify. In other words, if you register and you find that your credit is less than stellar, Credit.com won’t recommend a high-end platinum credit card that requires an excellent credit score You’d likely get rejected, and that’s no good for you or Credit.com. You’d be no closer to getting a product you need, there’d be a wasted inquiry on your credit report, and Credit.com wouldn’t get paid. These are essentially what are commonly referred to as "targeted ads" in the world of the Internet. Despite all of this, however, even if you never apply for any product, the Credit Report Card will remain free, and none of this will impact how the editorial team reports on credit and credit scores.
DebtHelp.com is the one site and the one solution for all of your debt consolidation needs. Let our staff of financial experts, innovative technology and collection of helpful articles assist you in finding your debt solutions. By providing simple and secure quotes for nearly a dozen different debt products, we help our customers to rid themselves of debt quickly and easily.
Credit limitation: Like a balance transfer, a personal debt consolidation loan is usually only a viable solution for consumers who have a good credit score. The higher you score, the lower the interest rate you can qualify for on the loan. APR of 5% is ideal, but anything below 10% may be enough to provide the relief you need. If you can’t qualify for a rate below 10%, look for other options.
Imagine, for example, that you have $20,000 in credit card debt and $10,000 in other non-mortgage debt. You might set yourself a goal of paying it all off in two years. (Set a specific time frame, too, lest you keep extending your deadline.) You can set sub-goals, too, such as having a quarter of it and half of it paid off by certain dates. Write down the goals and post them where you'll see them.
Pardon me for being rude, but – are you insane, bad at math, or only joking? In what way do you believe “the tax code is better being self employed”? Unless you make over $127,200 the taxes are much HIGHER on self-employed individuals. I say this as a former employee, now an independent contractor and small business owner being taxed literally to death for the last 13+ years. Self employed people making under the Social Security cap pay an additional 7.65% tax. And yes, you can “give yourself a raise” but YOU are the one paying yourself, so…

You should take the time to shop around. FICO says there is little to no impact on your credit score for rate shopping as many providers as you’d like in a single shopping period (which can be between 14-30 days, depending upon the version of FICO). So set aside a day and apply to as many as you feel comfortable with to get a sense of who is ready to give you the best terms.

Whether you’re carrying credit card debt, personal loans, or student loans, one of the best ways to pay them down sooner is to make more than the minimum monthly payment. Doing so will not only help you save on interest throughout the life of your loan, but it will also speed up the payoff process. To avoid any headaches, make sure your loan doesn’t charge any prepayment penalties before you get started.
And yes, it’s not always that simple. There are people who deal with some scary, painful, and expensive health issues in a broken system that just makes it harder. It’s all too easy to become one of them. And there are people who’ve been dealt a bad hand in other ways, by growing up in generational poverty, starting out behind, and/or being thwarted at every turn by a lack of access to the advantages others take for granted or don’t even notice.

If you've already fallen behind on your monthly payments or can no longer afford your minimum payments, we want to talk to you. If can't see any way to improve your financial situation without taking a drastic step like declaring bankruptcy, we may be able to help. What's more, we have years of experience with clients who face exacerbating circumstances like divorce, death in the family, unemployment, long-term medical issues and other problems.

The benefit of professional help: A debt management program is the solution you use if you can’t make progress on your own. If you don’t have good credit or you’ve missed some payments, your creditors may be resistant to working with you. Having the help of a credit counseling agency means you get a team of negotiators on your side. That makes it easier to craft a repayment plan that your creditors will actually accept.

This is the last-ditch solution if your financial situation has become so overwhelming that there doesn’t appear to be a way out. Bankruptcy offers a “fresh start” though with lots of restrictive conditions. You can file for either a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which cancels your debts, or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which sets up a 3-5 year repayment plan to eliminate your debts.

Get the answers to the most common questions on credit card bill and debt consolidation. This can be one solution to use, especially when the interest rates are lower. The process can help you decide whether taking the approach of credit card consolidation is right for you as just maybe it can help you in your personal and financial situation. Find a list of questions about credit card consolidation.
The great thing about Clearpoint is that their debt management program allowed me to consolidate the payments of 9 different credit cards into one single payment… They were the ones that contacted all the credit card companies and got the lowest APR possible. And they were very supportive too—there was never any judgment about what had happened or anything like that. They were just there to help, completely on board with me as a part of my team.
Another obstacle that trip up so many is thinking you'll make progress on debt repayment by making your minimum payments. Yes, it minimizes inconvenience and will seem easier than other strategies, but it's costly. Imagine, for example, you owe $20,000 on your credit card(s) and that you're being charged a 25% interest rate. If your minimum payments are 3% of your balance, you'll be starting out paying a whopping $600 per month, meaning you'll have to come up with $150 per week. If you can't, your balance will be growing, digging you deeper in debt. In that situation, it can take more than 30 years to pay the debt off, with your total payments exceeding $63,000 -- all for a $20,000 balance owed.
Experian, one of the three major credit bureau companies in the U.S., said the impact on your score should be minimal if you and the agency making payments for you, are on-time every month. If lenders look at your full credit report while you are in a DMP, they will see that you are repaying the debt at a reduced rate and it may affect their final decision on whether to grant you a loan.